Vulcanized fiber, sometimes also referred to as “vulcanized fibre” or “fish paper”, has long been in use in the abrasive arts and refers to a leather-like or horn-like material generally formed from cellulose by compressing layers of chemically treated (for example, with metallic chlorides) cellulose derived from paper, paper pulp, rayon, or cloth. Vulcanized fiber is hydrophilic in nature and prone to absorbing moisture.
Abrasive articles that employ vulcanized fiber as a substrate material suffer from a well-recognized problem of a lack of dimensional stability (commonly called shape distortion, with specific examples of shape distortion being “curling” and “cupping”) caused by changes in environmental moisture content (e.g., humidity). The lack of dimensional stability can detrimentally impact abrasive performance and cause premature end of life of an abrasive product (e.g., delamination, excessive warping of the abrasive article). Various approaches have been attempted to solve the problems related to the use of vulcanized fiber substrates but all suffer from certain drawbacks. Therefore, there continues to be a demand for improved abrasive articles.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.